Coupling-centering mechanism.



7h 1 9 1 1 0 1 1 W M d aw t H nu b a P W. A REDMAN.

COUPLING CENTERING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-23.1916.

ED, STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILIiIAM A. nnnlvren, or rrrrsgeuncir, rnnnsvnvnnra, essre von To THEMeconwAY a TORLEY. COMPANY,; or PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION013' PENN:

s vAnIa.

To all whom itmcty concern 1 Be it known that I, W LLI M A. BEDMAN, acitizen of the United; States,residing at Pittsburgh, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certaln new anduseful Improvements in Coupling- Centering. Mechanism; and I do herebydeclare: the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others; skilledin the art to which it appertainsto make and use the; same.

My invention relatesto that class, of car couplers which are mountedupon railway cars in a mannerperrnitting them to move or swing laterallywhen the cars to. which they are applied pass around curves 1n thetrack; and the object of the. invention is to prov de simple andefficient means whereby the trainman may readily unlock the coupler andshift it laterally to any position that may be necessary to bring itinto proper coupling alineinent with the mating coupler uponan adjacentcar. t

Generally stated, this object is accomplished by employinga jointed'lever for unlocking the coupler and shiftingit. laterally, one sectionof the lever being rotatable, with respect to. the other to elfect anunlocking movement of the coupler locking mechanism, and the lever as awhole being rotatable to efiect a lateral shiftingof the couplerl In thedrawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of: the invention, thescope whereof is pointed out in the claims,

Figure 1 is a front elevation of alater-ally movable coupler combinedwith coupler un locking and shiftingmechanisni embodying myinvention. g3 ,f

Fig. 2 is a detail View, partly in side elevation and partly in verticalsection, showportions of the? mechanism illustrated in Fig. 8. is a.detail side elevation of one oi the jointed op rating levers; andassociated parts.

Fig. lis a detail view, partly in elevatlon andpart-ly in. verticalcentral section, showing thelprefejrred inodeof attaching the lever to,the railwayqcar. {id .1

Fig. 5 is, a detailwvertical sectional View of the sep arable; membersforming the socket or support for the jointed; operating lever.

Fig.6 is; a detail plan view of the lower one of the bracketwrnembersshown in Figs. 4 and 5. M a I Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed September 23, 191.16. Serial No. 121,780.

courrine-cnnrnarne MEoHANISI/Iw Patented May 15], 191 '7.

preierred forms.

In the drawings, 1 indicates a coupler having a knuckle 2 andavertically movable lock 8 for retaining the knuckle in closed or lockedposition. The illustrated formof coupler is of a well-known type that isadapted to shift or swing laterally in either direction from itsnormalposition in the longitudinal axis of the car to which it is attached.The lock 3 of the coupler may be movedtounlocked position by means of apivoted lifter or actuating member l whose outer end enters a slot oraperture, in the lower end of the lock and whose inner end is fashionedwith alined pintles 5 which project laterally'in opposite directions andrest in hjookdike bearings 6 formed on a bracket 7 that is secured tothe coupler so. as to be Inovable therewith. At its rearend thelockactuating member l is provided with a pocket, or recess 8 whichreceives the upwardly extending inner ends 9; ofrotatable rods or bars.10. that respectively extend from the coupler toward the opposite sidesof the car. By rotating either of the rods 10 the coupler lock 3 may becaused to assume an unlocked position and, in case the coupler isprovided with knuckle-opening mechanism, the knuckle 2 may be caused torotate to open position. This lock-actuating mechanism, which is to beregarded as illustrative merely, is fully described in the I. H.Milliken Patent No. 1,184,116, issued May 23, 1916.

Since the same form of mechanism is employed for actuating both of therods 10, only one such actuating mechanism has been illustrated, andwhile it is preferred to use two rods 10 with their actuatingmechanisms, so that the operator while standing at either side of thecar may unlock the coupler and shift it laterally in either direction,it isto be understood that a single rod 10 and the actuating devicesappurtenant thereto may alone be employed.

Each'rod is pivotally connected to an operating lever, such connectionbeing preferably formed by providing the outer end of the rod with jaws11 which receive the operating lever between them, and by passing a bolt12 through corresponding holes in the said jaws and lever. The operatinglever is comprised of a plurality of pivotallyconnected members, 13 and14, respectively, the rod or bar 10 being connected to the lower memberor handle section 13. The pivotal connection between the sections 13 and14 of the operating lever is such'that the handle section 13 may berotated independently of the upper section 14 in a direction to effect arotation of the attached operating rod 10 and a consequent unlockingmovement of the coupler lock 3. For this purpose, therefore, the lowerend of the lever member 14 is preferably formed with jaws 15 whichoverlap the upper end of the handle member 13, the, jaws 15 and member13 being suitably perforated to receive a pivot bolt 16. While this formof joint between the sections 13 and 14 of the operating lever permitsthe handle section 13 to be independently rotated in the direction oflength of the car so as to act as a complete lever in itself, it alsoenables both sections 13 and 14 to act conjointly as a single lever whenthe operator pulls or pushes transversely upon the handle member 13 tocommunicate a corresponding lateral shifting to the coupler through therod 10.

At its upper end the section 14 of the operating lever is provided witha projection or ball 17 which fits into a socket device that is securedto thecar by means of bolts '18. This socket device is preferably formedas two separable cupped members, 19 and 20, respectively, the member 19being slotted, as at 21, to permit the lever member 14 to be assembledtherewith, and the member 20 being provided with a depending tongue 22adapted to project into and form a closure for the slot 21. The lowerinner face of the tongue22 is cutaway somewhat at 23 (see Fig. 8) inorder to allow assembly of the parts. As will be seen from an inspectionof Figs. 4, 5, 6' and 7, the opening in the member 19 through which thelever section 14 extends is formed withoppositely disposed downwardlyflaring recesses or slots 24 which afford clearance permitting the levermember 14 to execute the extended swinging or pivotal movementstransversely of the car requisite to-effect the lateral shifting orpositioning of the coupler. The con struction is such that there is nosubstantial oscillation of the upper section 14 of the lever in thedirection of length of the car. In order to prevent the socket members19 and 20 from shifting laterally upon each other, as well as for thepurpose ofeconomizing metal, the upper socket member 20 is preferablyprovided with a central projection 25 in which the ball-receivinghemispherical cup is formed, the lower member 19 being formed with arecess 26 corresponding to said projection. I

The operation of the described mechanism is as follows: When the coupleris to be unlocked the trainman grasps the handle end of the lower levermember 13 and pulls it forwardly in the direction of length of the car,thus causing it to rotate about the pivot bolt 16 by which it isconnected to the upper section 14 of the lever. This effects a rotationof the adjacent rod 10 resulting in actuating the lock lifter 4 andmoving the coupler lock 3 to unlocked position. If the knuckle is freeto open and-the coupler is provided with knuckle-opening mechanism, asis usually the case, this movement of the lever member 13 also causesthe knuckle 2 of the coupler to be rotated to open position. When thecoupler has been unlocked or the knuckle thereof thrown open, the levermember 13 and adjacent rod 10 may be returned to normal positions, therecess or pocket 8 in the rear of the lifter 4being sufiiciently wide topermit the rod 10 to resume its normal position while the lockingmechanism of the coupler remains in unlocked position. VVhe'nthe'coupler is to be shifted laterally the operator moves the handlemember 13 of the lever in a direction transversely of' the car, pullingor pushing upon it as the required direction of movement of the cou'pler may dictate. In this operation the lever sections 13 and 14function as a single rigid lever rotating about the upper end of thesection 14. By this means the attached rod 10 is shifted transverselyand the coupler is correspondingly shifted. The operation of shiftingthe coupler laterally may be performed either when the coupler is lockedor unlocked.

I claim:

1. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with alaterally movable car coupler, of means for moving the locking mechanismof said coupler to unlocked position and for shifting said couplerlaterally, said means involving a lever comprising relatively movableconnected sections, one of said sections being independently movable toeffect an unlocking movement of said coupler locking mechanism.

2. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with alaterally movable car coupler, of means for moving the locking mechanismof said coupler to unlocked position and for shifting said couplerlaterally, said means involving a lever comprising a plurality ofpivotally connected sections, said sections being conjointly movable toeffect a lateral shifting of the coupler, and one of said sections beingindependently movable to effect an unlocking movement of said couplerlocking mechanism.

3. I11 mechanism of the character inclicated, the combination with alaterally 1novable car coupler, of means for moving the lockingmechanism of said coupler to unlocked position and for shifting saidcoupler laterally, said means involving a jointed lever which isattached at one end to the railway vehicle.

4. In mechanism of the character indi cated, the combination with alaterally movable car coupler, of means for moving the locking mechanismof said coupler to unlocked position and for shifting said couplerlaterally, said means involving a lever comprised of two pivotallyconnected sections, one of said sectlons being rotatable with respect tothe other to effect an unlocking movement of said coupler. lockingmechanism, and said lever being rotatably secured at one end to therailway vehicle.

5. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with alaterally movable car coupler, of means for shifting said couplerlaterally,said means involving a lever having a ball and socketconnection with the railway vehicle, the socket having oppositelydisposed downwardly flaring recesses.

6. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with alaterally movable car coupler, of means for moving the locking mechanismof said coupler to unlocked position and for shifting said couplerlaterally, said means involving a lever having a ball and socketconnection with the railwav vehicle, and means operatively connectingsaid lever to said locking mechanism,

said lever being comprised of a plurality oi pivotally connectedsections.

7. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with alaterally movable car coupler and its knuckle and locking mechanism, ofa jointed lever rotatably con nected to the railway vehicle, and arotatable rod operatively connecting said lever and locking mechanismand adapted to move said locking mechanism to unlocked position and toshift said coupler laterally, said rotatable rod being connected to oneof the sections of said jointed lever.

8. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with alaterally movable car coupler, of means for shifting said couplerlaterally, said means involving a lever movably connected to the railwayvehicle, and means operatively connecting said lever and coupler, saidlever being provided with a projection, and the railway vehicle havingmounted thereon means for supporting said lever, said supporting meanscomprising separable members constituting a socket for receiving theprojection on said lever. e

9. In mechanism of the character indicated, the combination with alaterally movable car coupler, of means for shifting said couplerlaterally, said means involving a lever having a plurality of pivotallyconnected members and having a connection with the railway vehicle whichprevents substantial rotations of said leverexcept about two axesextending at an angle to each other, one of said axes extending in thedirection of length of said lever.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

' WM. A. REDMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

